What’s different about Jack Hughes’ game so far this season?

When the New Jersey Devils drafted Jack Hughes first overall back in the 2019 Draft, the team and fans alike thought they were getting a top-tier NHL center to join the likes of Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, among others.

And while Hughes has certainly flirted with that territory before, peaking with a 99-point season back in 2022-23, he has yet to truly ascend beyond the realm of the merely very good.

This season, however, could be the one in which Hughes establishes himself as elite. Coming off a hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, Hughes has nine points in six games, including six goals over a three-game goal-scoring streak.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, hosts Irfaan Gaffar and Colby Cohen discussed Hughes’ start to the season, and what’s he doing differently.

Cohen: When I look at the success of Hughes right now, I see a guy who is getting to the inside. I don’t see a guy who is waiting around. I don’t see a spectator offensively, the way he’s attacking the puck, the way he’s attacking the pile when he has the puck on his stick. You look at the first goal that he scored last night, he’s on top of the crease. He’s through the middle, he chases the puck down, he gets high in the zone, and then he ends up making a perfect shot through a screen.

But again, you look a the area of the ice that he’s playing in, it’s right between the hash marks. Obviously the slap shot goal is a little bit different, he gets in transition and gets a little more of a break in. But I see a guy who is attacking with the puck and attacking without the puck. When snipers have that type of mentality, and when guys as skilled as Hughes is have that mentality, there’s not many guys out there that can defend them.

You can catch Wednesday’s full episode here…